A British court gave a 30-year-old anti-Israel protester a suspended jail sentence for climbing atop the Big Ben monument in London with a Palestinian flag last year, The Telegraph reported Monday.
The 17-hour stunt by Daniel Day, 30, cost the British taxpayer £92,000 ($122,000), according to the newspaper.
Judge Tony Baumgartner, presiding at the Southwark Crown Court in London, handed down a 14-month sentence, suspended for two years.
“This was well-planned offending and you knew precisely what you were doing,” the judge said. “Foolishly you climbed a far way up the tower, far enough to cause very serious harm to you and possibly others if you fell.”
The judge noted Day had not offended since the Big Ben incident and had “strong personal mitigation,” including being unable to work for three years due to failing eyesight, The Telegraph reported.
In addition to the suspended sentence, Day was ordered to attend up to 20 rehabilitation days and will be electronically monitored for four months, the report said.
Day, who is unemployed, was found guilty at trial in June of intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance with the stunt, and he pleaded guilty to trespassing on a protected site, the Palace of Westminster and Portcullis House.
Day unfurled a Palestinian flag after he reached a ledge midway up the tower, and stayed there until around midnight, according to the prosecution.
Metropolitan Police officers waited for him to agree to come down. A crowd of anti-Israel protesters gathered spontaneously near parliament to encourage Day, as police closed some roads to traffic.
“Much of this was entirely visible to Mr. Day,” said the prosecutor. “He could see the blocks, he could see what was happening to traffic, and he knew he had caused this.”
